Rain Lilies / Zephyranthes

The garden version of finding a five dollar bill in the pocket of a jacket you haven’t worn in months, rain lilies deliver a delightful surprise when you least expect it. Responding to late summer rains, these single stem sweeties pop up and decorate patches of dull soil with brilliant starry blooms. Rain lilies, also known as zephyranthes and fairy lilies, endear themselves to warm region homeowners by quietly naturalizing into ever larger blankets of color. Inexpensive, super easy and happy to spread, rain lilies deserve to be on the short list of everyone residing in the South and warm West.